Frontier, the low-cost airline that charges you for everything from snacks in the plane to carry-ons, aims to reduce costs even more by removing the customer service call. Instead, customers who have questions about their reservations can only speak to Frontier’s representatives through the live chat feature on Frontier’s website, WhatsApp, or social media.
The Frontier, Jennifer De La Cruz confirmed that Frontier’s customer support has “transitioned to fully digital communications,” which is intended to “ensure customers get the information they need as expeditiously and efficiently as possible.” So, for example, if customers try calling the number Frontier has removed from its website (but is still visible on Google), the caller is confronted with this message before being able to chat on the internet instead:
At Frontier, they provide some of the lowest prices on the market by operating the airline efficiently. They wish their customers to run their businesses efficiently, too, and that’s why they have made it simple to find the items you require on FlyFrontier.com or via our mobile application. There is also an online chat facility that is available 24/7.
If you are willing to chat on the internet, Frontier will text you a link to its live chat facility on its website. However, you’ll be required to engage with a chatbot before connecting with a real person. De La Cruz said the shift was slowly rolled out and became effective over the weekend. “We have found that most customers prefer communicating via digital channels,” De La Cruz says.
This comes after Frontier’s 15th November shareholder presentation in which it was stated that one-to-one voice phone calls could be “unscalable, inefficient, and expensive” and recommends implementing the three-to-one live chat system, which will have one representative working with three customers at one time. “Think about the most obscure question a customer might ask that would take a call center agent many, many minutes to research and find an answer to,” Jack Filene, Frontier’s senior vice president for customers, in the presentation. CNBC reports. “The chatbot can answer that very quickly.”
This month in April, earlier this month, the Department of Transportation ordered Frontier Airlines to pay $222 million in refunds to customers as well as the payment of a $2.2 million fine to pay customers who have had their flights canceled or altered flights. In 2020, Frontier Airlines was accused of offering vouchers, not refunds, to customers whose flight was canceled or changed due to the pandemic covid-19 as a practice that the DOT finds “unlawful.”
Frontier is among the biggest airlines to shut down customers from their telephone lines. Even the low-cost airline Spirit has tried to acquire Frontier in the summer, letting customers speak to agents on the phone. While it can be challenging to endure long wait times while making calls to customer service can be difficult, the phone line is essential to have as an option, particularly for those who need to be more technologically adept.
